The Final Entries
by JPTorres26
Summary: The final entries of Brett Thompson in his interviews with the Belkan War Aces. After Solo Wing Pixy, he finds the final ace he needs to talk to, the Demon Lord of the Round Table. What are Cipher's thoughts about the war where he was considered a hero?


**Ace Combat Fanfiction**

**The Final Entries**

**Written by: JPTorres26**

**Rating: T**

**Genre: Drama**

"Yo buddy, still alive?" he began "And thanks friend, see you again" he finished

Those were his last messages that I recorded during my interview with Larry Foulke. It has been a year since that day, but when I asked him something after that, I never forgot what he replied

"Might I ask, is there someplace you know I can find him?" I asked

"I told you I have no idea" he replied "But I you're willing, you can go to Valais Air Base and maybe, they know where he is" he added

Valais Air Base, the place where they used to go out from during their sorties, and where the legendary Demon Lord of the Round Table lied. I don't know if I really am that desperate to find him, though I have a good idea of what kind of person he is, it still bugs me to see him personally and ask him everything I want.

Everyone I talked to so far had this smile on their face, if it be Capt. Joshua Bristow, Lt. Col Anthony Palmer or even the tough Marcela Vasquez, they all had this slight smile I can just guess to be gratitude or content. It's as if they found that their life's true purpose wasn't in the air because of him.

Valais Air Base was situated near B7R Airspace, the round table, and was an isolated place that there was no sign of land vehicles near the area. Still, it was passable, and I managed to take my truck out for the ride of it's life, the terrain was rocky!

I can understand why almost no land vehicles passes by here, and that the Ustio Air Force really made a good choice of putting their base near the border of Southern Belka, for air deployment is so easy here!

I finally made it to the base, luckily, they let me in without any worries, perhaps because they weren't so used to having visitors like me. The people of the air base were laid back, maybe because there was no war anymore.

I was walking towards the Base Commander's office when I saw these framed portraits on the lobby walls, they were pictures of the base's ace planes. There were three F-16s, and of course, Galm 2's red F-15. What surprised me were two large portraits on the sides of the Commander's office door, the ADFX-02 Morgan and the F-15 that Galm 2 and Galm 1 used in their showdown above Avalon.

Engraved on the bottom of each portrait were the insignia of the Galm Team, and below them were the words "Conquerors of the Round Table and the Heroes of the Belkan War"

I really can't believe that even Galm 2's Morgan was recognized as a hero. Perhaps because even though he fought with the rebels of "A World With No Boundaries", he fought with Galm 1 as his loyal wingman and fought off the Belkan forces.

Finally, the Commander let me in his offce

"So you must be Brett Thompson?" he asked

I was surprised, I never even told my name to anyone in the base and he knew who I was, I asked myself how did that happen?

"I am Commander Jeremy Downing of the Valais Air Base, nice to meet you" he said

"Nice to meet you, sir" I also said "But how did you know my name?" I asked

"Aren't you the one who interviewed all the surviving aces of the Belkan War? We here in the military took notice of that, only a few reporters would go across the continent just to know the real details behind the war, you know"

"I'm honored, sir"

"Well, rest assured, you can count on me to tell you everything you wanted to know"

"Thank you, sir"

So I brought out my video camera and tripod and I recorded our conversation

"So, Commander Downing, can you tell me about this mercenary pilot they called "Demon Lord of the Round Table?"

"Certainly, it's been a while since I've heard of him and I'd be happy to tell you everything I had with him"

So the Commander took a deep breath as he began the story of the Demon Lord

"It was April, 1995, we have just received our new squadron, the Ustio Air Force's 6th Air Division, 66th Air Force Unit, codename Galm. They were just two mercenaries, one a former Belkan Air Force pilot, "Solo Wing" Larry Foulke, callsign Pixy. He was Galm 2, while the team's leader was a young pilot by the name of Alvin Robertson, Galm 1 callsign Cipher, unlike Pixy, Cipher really was an Ustian pilot under a mercenary unit"

"So how did you see them at first?"

"The boys were young, they were about in their late 20's, I've heard they were about the same age"

So it means that Cipher is also 38, I kept in mind

"How about their skills, their planes?"

"I really didn't expect much from them, maybe because it was my first time handling a mercenary unit in the base, but it really surprised me when they took down their first ace squadrons, the Indigo, Rot and Grun. I can't believe these boys can do these things with those heavy F-15s!"

"And they progressed onward, am I right?"

"Yes, they slowly became the toughest squadron of the whole Osean army in the Belkan War! They did missions that even the toughest Osean Squadrons can not do! And there's just two of them! As time passed by, they were the spearhead of the whole allied forces squadrons"

"But they lost one member, correct?"

"That was after the Belkan Superweapon, Excalibur was destroyed, after getting back to the base, Alvin noticed something wrong with Larry, and he told me about it. He said that Larry seemed appalled at the thought of war itself. I just told him to let it pass, for everyone feels that way sometimes. Unfortunately, that was my biggest mistake"

"For Larry Foulke, switched sides and joined the rebels?"

"Yes, after the nuclear attack on Waldreich, a few Osean squadrons were seen near the battle zone, and that they contacted Larry, stating that they were taking him home. It seemed that "A World With No Boundaries" started their move there, for he even attacked Alvin, but failed to destroy him. It was the last we have seen of him before the Avalon strike"

"So who became Galm 2 after that? Pixy told me that there was another mercenary squadron with them and that one from the squadron replaced him?"

"Yes, during the attack on the Excalibur, Galm Team had help from Crow Team, a mercenary squadron from Ustio's 4th Air Force Unit. They were the three F-16s you saw by the lobby walls. Their third member, Patrick James, callsign PJ was the replacement Galm 2"

"What happened to the other 2?"

"Until now, we don't know, we lost them after the V1s were dropped in Waldreich, only PJ came back here, even he doesn't know what happened to them"

"About the XB-0 battle, what was your view of the battle?"

"It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen, it really proved that Alvin was a demon lord, along with Patrick, they singlehandedly destroyed the humongous bomber along it's ace escorts, the rebels from Sapin, the Espada Team, I believe you interviewed it's second team member?"

"Yes, Marcela Vasquez, Espada 2, she was really amazed by Galm 1's fighting skills and she also told me everything about the battle. What I wanted to know from you was what did you see of that battle?"

"I felt that victory against the rebels were close, because their flagship was destroyed"

"About the Avalon Strike, it was the biggest battle of the war, wasn't it?"

"Yes, the battle to stop the V2 missiles from launching, it was Galm Team's final sortie, they were the only ones who made it through the SAM filled canyons and destroyed the command center, unfortunately, there was the biggest V2 controlled by Morgan"

"The organization's experimental aircraft, the ADFX-02 Morgan, piloted by the organization's greatest ace, Larry Foulke, Galm Team's second half himself"

"Let me tell you a story, Brett, before the Avalon Strike operation commenced, Alvin mentioned something to me, it was what the Sorcerer, Gault and Wizard squadrons' leaders told him. That there was a king sleeping in Avalon, and that the war would end when he awakens"

"And that king, was Pixy?"

"It would seem so, Pixy had everything with him after all, the most advanced weaponry and control of the ultimate V2 missiles"

"But how did Cipher manage to come out with that victory?"

"It was because Cipher was purely born to fly and conquer the skies. Even with just an F-15, he shot down an aircraft that was way ahead of its time. The Demon Lord's skills were supreme, if he wanted to, he can take on an entire country's air force and still come out unscathed"

"Thank you, sir, that's all I wanted to hear"

"I'm glad I've been able to share this with you"

I turned off the video camera and asked him one last question

"Sir, could you tell me where I can find him?"

"I knew you would ask me that" he replied "Very well, Alvin always goes to Avalon forest, where the remains of PJ's plane lie, you should be able to find him there"

"Thank you, sir, I'm grateful"

So my final destination was across Belka, in Avalon Forest, 3 miles northwest of Avalon Dam. I was planning to drive there but the kind – hearted Commander Downing offered me a ride in one of the base's choppers and I kindly accepted.

As I got closer to the forest, I noticed something on the bank of the river, remains of a crashed plane, from there, I can see a man dropping flowers beside the remains. I had a hunch it was him, paying tribute to his fallen comrade.

I landed the chopper in an open space near the bank and immediately headed towards the remains, there, the man who had long brown hair talked to me. Little did I know, that this man, was the one I've been looking for all these years

"Did you know him?" he asked

"Yes, I've heard of him from a friend, I've heard he was a loyal wingman"

"Indeed he was, a loyal wingman and friend. But I still failed in protecting him"

"Cipher, it wasn't your fault"

"Cipher, it's been a while when somebody called me by that name, say, how did you know me?"

"I've heard from a friend, Larry Foulke, he wanted me to tell you something"

"Larry?"

So I showed him the video in my video camera, I can tell he was feeling happy to see his friend once again

"Hey buddy, it's been a long time! I wanted to apologize, for betraying you, and for killing your wingman, I ended up in an organization that brought no new meaning to me. Borders were something needed in the world, regardless of war or peace. That's what I learned after you shot me down, I expected to die but I guess it isn't our time yet. That's all. Yo buddy! Still alive? And thanks friend, see you again"

"I hope so, Larry, I hope so" said Alvin

"So I guess you wanted to talk to me about that time, huh?" he asked

"Yes, my name's Brett Thompson, it's a pleasure to meet you, Alvin Robertson"

So we shook hands before I asked an interview, we sat down beside the F-16's remains and I set up the camera, just as I did with Commander Downing.

"Could you tell me your story during the war?"

"I was a mercenary hired with Pixy during the war, and as any mercenary, we were asked to do all kinds of dirty works. I never really liked the idea of killing and it really kills me if the pilots of the planes I shot down never got to eject. Some kind of mercenary must I be? Anyway, I saw Larry more as a wingman, but as a good friend, so we worked together to take down everything in front of us."

"Everyone who I had talked to had asked the same thing, how did you fly so good?"

"Well, I never really expected to become an ace, in fact, I never even knew I can fly good, I just evaded every missile and plane attacking and counterattacked, maybe it's just unconsciously that I can do maneuvers like those"

"I see, what did you feel after Larry left?"

"I knew what was going on through his mind, and I was hoping not to face him, now that he was my enemy. I felt alone for a while, that is until PJ came on, he was also a good friend to me, it was just sad that a friend took down another friend"

"You said you didn't hope to face Larry but what were you thinking while fighting him?"

"Honestly, I threw everything aside when I saw PJ's plane explode, I felt rage against Larry and that I needed to take him down to finish everything. I really didn't expect things to turn out that bad, and I never really wanted to do it. I really am just glad that he lived on"

"Anyway, Brett, do you think you can tell me where to find Larry?"

"Larry is currently a volunteer soldier down at the Usean Continent border and I don't know how long he'll be there. I think he would really love to see you there"

"Is that so, thank you" he said "Is there something more you wanted to ask me?"

"Nothing more, I've heard everything I need to. It's been an honor, Cipher"

"I'm glad I've been of help"

And so, the final entries in my journal of "The Belkan War Aces" has been completed. After all this time, I've been able to find out what kind of person the Demon Lord really was. He was a compassionate leader, pilot and a very loyal friend. I just hope that if ever another war appears, someone like him would appear at the frontlines and help stop the war.


End file.
